Flowers between 10 and 18mm across (Sticky Stork's-bill's flowers are smaller at 7-10mm across). It is frequently mentioned that two of the upper petals of some flowers have a black spot near the base. Here one flower has four, the other two, but many have none at all. This makes the flower not actinomorphic, but hemi-zygomorphic, or slightly bi-laterally symmetric. Pollen, when present, is a dark orange colour.

The leaves are deeply cut into leaflets. Tips of the leaflets tend to redden, and have a hair at the tip. Leaves have a smattering of fine non-sticky hairs, as do the stems.

Easily mistaken for : Sticky Stork's-bill but that is shorter and has sticky hairs to which sand-grains tend to stick, amongst many other differences mentioned in the captions above.

Flower (alone) looks similar to: Rock Sea-Spurrey, another similarly coloured 5-petalled flower that grows near the sea, but gets rather closer to the sea than does Common Stork's-bill. The leaves are totally different.

Hybridizes with : Sticky Stork's-bill (Erodium lebelii) to produce Erodium × anaristatum which is sterile and lacks the stork's-bills, and the flowers tend to be absent.

No relation to : Sticky Mouse-ear, Sticky Catchfly nor to Sticky Groundsel [plants with similar names].

Habitat includes dry grassy and sandy places, especially on alkaline soils and near the sea.